美国国家公共电台 NPR Sisi Is All But Assured A Second Term In Egypt's Presidential Election

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Egyptian officials are tightening¹ security ahead of Monday's presidential elections as they investigate a deadly car bomb in Alexandria today. Egypt's President Sisi, a former army general who came to power after a military coup², is running for a second term. And as NPR's Jane Arraf reports from Cairo, he's pretty much assured a victory.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

JANE ARRAF, BYLINE³: This is a pro-Sisi rally in one of the poorer neighborhoods in Cairo. There's a tent set up in a parking lot with a stage and posters of the president. Kids run between the rows of chairs.

It's a huge tent lined with red, white, blue and yellow satin. And it's filled up with women. They're almost all woman and little children. It isn't politics that these women are interested in. They want someone to help them.

Ahlam Abdul Rady says one of her daughters was moved from a slum into a new apartment paid for by the government.

AHLAM ABDUL RADY: (Through interpreter) We are here to support Sisi because he's a good man. God willing, we will elect him for the second and even the third time if I'm still alive.

ARRAF: Five years ago, Sisi led a military coup that toppled democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood⁴ government. Sisi was elected a year later. Sisi's Egypt has brought in what human rights groups call an unprecedented⁵ crackdown, with thousands killed or jailed. At this rally, people don't care about that. They want food and a decent place to live. Sisi doesn't really have to do a lot of campaigning. That's partly because most serious rivals were either jailed or say they were intimidated⁶ into withdrawing. Sisi in a recent Egyptian television interview had a different.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT ABDEL FATTAH EL-SISI: (Through translator) I was hoping to have with us one or two or three or even 10 of the best, most virtuous⁷ candidates. And you would choose as you wish. We are not ready yet. It is not a shame to say that.

ARRAF: So who is running against him? His name is Moussa Mostafa Moussa. He's a 65-year-old architect, business owner and politician. Before he declared as a candidate, he'd been working at getting Sisi re-elected. At his party headquarters in downtown Cairo, he tells NPR he decided⁸ to run because an election with only one candidate would have been a referendum rather than a real election.

MOUSSA MOSTAFA MOUSSA: Having a referendum basis was going to be a catastrophic situation because the voters would not go down to vote because there would be only one candidate.

ARRAF: He says that would have been terrible for Egypt's image. In the street outside, his campaign manager Sayed Mahmoud Obeido hands out fliers. He's predicting Moussa could get 40 percent. It seems unlikely. But he says the important thing is that Egyptians go out and vote.

SAYED MAHMOUD OBEIDO: (Through translator) With all respect to Sisi, we are asking people to vote for Sisi or Moussa.

ARRAF: Sisi has considerable support from business people, Christians⁹ who fear the Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptians who believe it's either Sisi's strong-arm tactics or chaos¹⁰. Without a strong rival to Sisi, the question is how many Egyptians will actually bother to vote. Some quietly say they'll stay away from the polls in protest even though voting is technically¹¹ required. A lot of young Egyptians in particular feel betrayed that the revolution has ushered¹² in repression¹³. But in these streets of Cairo strung with banners supporting Sisi, they're not talking. Jane Arraf, NPR News, Cairo.

1 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

2 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

5 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

6 intimidated   

v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的

参考例句：

• We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
• The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

10 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

11 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

12 ushered   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
• A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。